Sizes for classes debated in Lynn

LYNN – How many kids should be in the average local public school classroom to ensure the best possible education? The answer depends on the School Committee member or candidate answering the question.”Anything in the 40s is too high,” veteran committeewoman Patricia Capano said Wednesday, adding figures provided to her by school officials indicate only two out of 319 elementary school classrooms in the city have more than 30 students.Committee candidate and Lynn Vocational Technical Institute teacher Rick Starbard said the KIPP Academy Lynn charter school has 32 students in its classes.”They’re all on point. They know what’s expected of them,” he said, adding 30 to 34 students in an elementary school classroom is too high.Twenty-four to 27 students in a high school classroom and 24 or 25 in a middle school class are “ideal” classroom sizes, said Committeeman Jeffrey Newhall.Newhall, Capano and colleague John Ford said public school educators are doing their best in the face of state-initiated spending cuts to keep class sizes low.”Class size is always a concern but we have a $5 million budget cut coming after a $1.9 million cut,” Capano said.One of Ford’s daughters teaches at Breed Middle School, another at the Connery Elementary School. He said a 42-student class at Breed was reduced at the start of the academic year. Ford and Newhall challenged colleague Maria Carrasco’s claim that Breed has a 44-student reading class.”The largest is 33. That is very high but some of the class size concern is a matter of doing the best we can given budget constraints,” Newhall said.Carrasco on Wednesday said she checked the size of the Breed reading class after she raised concerns about it at last week’s committee meeting and was told it has 33 students. Superintendent Catherine Latham said she “double checked” class sizes at Breed after Carrasco complained and found “no evidence” of 40-plus class sizes in the school.Committee candidate and retired teacher Harrison Harley said he has a plan to create an ideal public school class size of 20 students to one teacher.”I’ve said take a 4 percent cut at headquarters and put it into classrooms. The administration is too top heavy.”Before that measure or any other is introduced, Carrasco wants to see a system-wide list of class sizes, especially special education classes where she said the ideal class size should be 12 or 13 students and one teacher assisted by an aide.Attempts to reach Committee members Donna Coppola and Vincent Spirito and candidate Dolores DiFillipo on Wednesday were unsuccessful.